Canada is on the cusp of a bioeconomic revolution. With its foundation of expansive forests and agricultural land, Canada is poised to unlock the value of its bio-based resources potential.

The Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC) has a big mandate.

With increasing urbanization comes an increased tax on our environment and its ability to sustain us.

A sign at my local courier office seems to claim that there is a shortage of robots to replace humans. In fact, the situation is the reverse. Currently in North America, in many industries, there is a shortage of humans to carry out jobs that cannot be automated.

The movie Black Panther uses the premise that a small nation in Africa is well ahead of the rest of the world in developing new technologies.

I had the opportunity last fall to visit the Great Pyramids of Giza in Egypt. Of the original seven wonders of the ancient world, they are the only one remaining.

The pulp and paper industry is of great importance to the Finnish economy and accounts for more than 20 % of the country’s export value. In addition to that Finland has well-known consultant companies and a substantial mechanical industry producing equipment and services for the pulp and paper industry worldwide.

As a writer, I regularly compose articles for the Swedish pulp and paper magazine Svensk Papperstidning, as well as in-depth features focusing on the pulp and paper industry of specific countries.

The pulp and paper industry has since early days increased its efficiency by developing new process technologies, switching from rag to wood as raw material and eliminating products with no future.

Kruger uses the best technology to produce high-end tissue

If you work in the pulp and paper industry, chances are you've come across the term circular economy, which has been creating a lot of hype as of late.

Last May 30 was a bright sunny day, as German papermaker ProGroup decided to pay a visit to its papermachine clothing supplier, Cristini, in Lachute, QC.

In my last blog, I emphasized that Green Chemistry Principles provide useful, actionable ways to drive innovation strategies and accelerate transformation in the pulp and paper (P&P) industry. Here, I will focus on a facilitating technology in the development and implementation of biomolecules, biomaterials, and bioproducts from biorefinery: molecular modeling (MM).

Increased level of pollution worldwide (soil, air and water) calls for urgent action and scalable solutions.

The Kraft pulping process, patented in 1879 and implemented in 1890, has shown resilience for more than 100 years, as it provides higher pulp strength and allows for about 98% of chemicals recovery cycle and energy efficiency.

Increasingly, bio-sourced products derived from biomass are gaining attention in the pulp and paper industry. For hardwood kraft-dissolving pulp mills, the production of furfural would not only enhance the use of biomass, but also generate additional revenue, and create a reliable source of furfural in North America.

Effective forest management requires collaboration and cooperation between First Nations, industry, and government.

Encouraged by what they learned during last year’s test campaign, FPInnovations and its partners plan to continue evaluating cooperative truck platooning technology in the coming months. This year’s goals are more ambitious.

Yes, plastic litter (any litter for that matter) and marine pollution is terrible, and we need to have a long hard look at our consumption habits and to reduce our use of fossil fuels.

Three provinces lag significantly behind the others in solid waste management in Canada: Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta. And what’s worse, their low diversion rates (ranging from between 16 and 18%) have not changed much over the last eight years, according to the latest data from Statistics Canada.

Three provinces sit in the middle of Canada’s waste disposal charts. But because two of them (Quebec and Ontario) together contain 60% of Canada’s population, they basically determine the country’s overall waste management performance.

Wood fiber costs for softwood pulp manufacturers in 16 countries have gone up the past two years, and as a result, in the 1Q/19, the SFPI price index reached its highest level in five years, reports the WRQ

Sawlog prices declined the most in Central Europe, Western US and Russia, reports the WRQ

The US market share fell by 35%, while Canadian and Russian exporters have increased their shares since 2018, reports the Wood Resource Quarterly

Canada is a forest nation! With approximately 40% of our total area covered with forests or other wooded land, our forests play a vitally important role in supporting healthy communities.

March 21 is International Day of Forests, as declared by the United Nations. It is a time for us to celebrate our forestry families, forestry communities, and our country’s world-leading approach to how we manage our forests – one of our country’s most important and renewable resources.

Message from Tanya Wick, Tolko, VP People and Services

Introduction

As early as 2016, studies were introduced that showed numerous process control benefits that can be realized on paper machines equipped with the EasyScan traversing permeability, water content, and temperature measurement capabilities.

Introduction

In the day-to-day operation of paper machines, little thought is typically applied to carrier rope runs until something changes that affects downtime related to sheet transfers and/or rope replacement.

INTRODUCTION

Capabilities now exist that enable paper, board, and tissue makers to scan the moisture level, permeability, and temperature of their felts without having to go onto the machine.

FPInnovations held the world's first platooning tests on forestry roads in Rivière-aux-Rats, near La Tuque, QC, last week, paving the way towards the use of autonomous vehicles.

The installation of a new turbine generator isn't expected to just generate new revenue for Domtar's Windsor, QC facility, it will also produce18 MW of electricity, optimize the mill's steam, all the while ensuring operational flexibility.

Held at FPInnovations headquarters in Pointe-Claire, Quebec, the 2018 edition of the Pulp, Paper and Bioproducts Course provided hands-on training to 45 participants coming from Canada and the United States.

On October 24, Kruger hosted nearly 100 employees, dignitaries and partners to celebrate the end of a project that saw a complete rebuild of a paper machine at its Trois-Rivières, QC, facility.

Cristini, a manufacturer of carrier rope, threading systems and spiral fabrics for filtration and paper machine dryer sections, recently celebrated its 20th anniversary in business in Lachute, QC.

A large-scale pilot plant at Resolute’s Thunder Bay mill will further develop FPInnovations’ patented process to produce “2G” sugars and hydrolysis lignin (H-lignin) using mechanical refining, mild chemical treatment and enzymatic hydrolysis.

Some companies have latched on to this visualization technology to make at-the-scene maintenance more time-effective and sure. Integration with the Industrial Internet (IoT) is essential to achieve it's full value potential.

Stora Enso and BillerudKorsnäs announce plans to phase in microfibrillated cellulose (MFC) in paperboard products. Lightweight milk cartons with Stora Enso MFC are already market tested.